


as if it might turn out this time

by Kroolea



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: (very minor), Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Western, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Character Death, Derogatory Language, Din Djarin Needs a Hug, Din Djarin centric, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Period-Typical Homophobia, Sad, cobb vanth needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:29:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29811915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kroolea/pseuds/Kroolea
Summary: "I ran into this guy yesterday on the way home from work. I had a dream about him. We were cowboys of sorts, I kissed him."A wicked grin spreads across her face. "Let me get this straight, you saw a pretty boy and now you dream of kissing him under the moonlight."
Relationships: Din Djarin/Cobb Vanth
Comments: 8
Kudos: 60





	as if it might turn out this time

**Author's Note:**

> This idea is very ecclectic was written several times and I'm still not 100% pleased with the final result but I've workshopped it several times and this is the best I've got. 
> 
> TW: character death(s), use of the words "lunatic" and "crazies"

Din rubs sleep from his eyes as he walks down the almost-empty streets of the city. There is always something eerie about seeing the streets so empty but he knows it's just because it's nearly 1 AM.

His latest job isn't all the bad, it's just a security gig that requires weird hours. Which is why he's out at such a late (early?) hour. 

Dragging his feet, he bites his tongue to avoid yawning. A sudden bump jostles him, sending a quick shot of pain up his arm. After a moment of confusion, he realizes someone ran into him.

"Shit! I'm so sorry. I didn't see ya there." The man exclaims, he looks over Din and once he seems to decide that Din is alright, he runs a hand through his silver hair. "My apologies."

Din watches the man hurry away. The man was gorgeous, an overconfident part of Din's brain makes him open his mouth to call for the man but no sound comes out.

He isn't going to drag someone into his mess of circumstances, not with his child and crazy friends, not with his baggage.

Not even if that someone is the hottest man Din has ever laid eyes on.

\---

_"I love you." The words are barely more than a whisper. A couple sits on a fence in the blue moonlight. One is a silver-haired man and the other a man who looks suspiciously like Din._

_The dark-eyed man looks over, startled at the revelation. A smile spreads across his face._

_"Are you sure about that, marshal?" He teases, the marshal with silver hair and the red bandana laughs. It's loud and carefree, Brown-eyes presses their foreheads together. The marshal's eyes are hazel, light brown with flecks of gold and green in them._

_"Yes."_

_Brown-eyes's face softens, it's himself, Din realizes. He looks over the man, his lover's, face. "I love you too. I want to spend ever moment I have left with you."_

_The smile that the marshal gives him is all teeth and if it were any brighter Din would have to shade his eyes._

Din wakes up with a start. It wasn't all that often he has such vivid dreams, especially not one that isn't a nightmare. He glances at his phone, squinting at the bright screen.

2:03 AM. Not even close to being the time he needs to be awake. He thinks over the dream. There was no denying that the marshal was the man he ran into on his way home. Deciding the try to get some more sleep, he buries himself back into the blankets. Sleep almost instantly overtakes him but this time there's no smiling marshal or whispered admissions of love. It's silent and dark.

\---

The next day, Din tries to keep an eye out for the familiar face but he sees no one.

"You look spooked." Cara notes as they sit for their lunch break. Din lets out a long sigh.

"Didn't sleep well." He admits, taking a bite of his food.

"Nightmares?" She must see his hesitation because she almost immediately follows her question with, "You don't need to tell me if you're not comfortable."

He waves his hand, not afraid to tell her, he just doesn't know how to explain to him.

"I ran into this guy yesterday on the way home from work. I had a dream about him. We were cowboys of sorts, I kissed him."

A wicked grin spreads across her face. "Let me get this straight, you saw a pretty boy and now you dream of kissing him under the moonlight."

Din blushes. "Shut up." He shoves her arm playfully.

"Am I wrong?"

Din lowers himself in his chair. "No..."

Cara grins and takes a bite of her lunch. "Ha! I knew it. Describe him."

"Uh," Din bites his lip. "He's got silver hair, a beard. I only saw him briefly."

Cara snorts. "You're in love _and_ you don't know what the guy looks like."

Din lets out a longsuffering sigh. "It's not love. It was one time we made eye contact."

"Love at first s _iiiii_ ght." She says in a song-song voice. 

"That doesn't exist." He rolls his eyes. "Let's drop this subject. How was that girl you were went on a date with?" He barely hears Cara talk, too focused on his thoughts.

Was this just lust? Surely it wasn't love like Cara was teasing him about? The dream felt too real to just be a figment of Din's imagination. He _knew_ that man, deep down inside. Din knows he's terrible with relationships, he was before he even adopted Grogu and having a kid only made things worst. He hasn't dated someone in actual _years._

Din gets back to work, not allowing himself to think about the silver-haired man.

\---

_"Oh, it's cloudy in the west, and a lookin' like rain,_

_And my darned old slicker's in the wagon again._

_Oh the wind commenced to blow and the rain began to fall," The silver-haired marshal croons, strumming an old guitar softly, the brown-eyed man— Din—_

_watches with an amused look._

_"If you're trying to call the all lunatics, keep on singing." Din teases, the man stops singing for a moment to laugh._

_"You're a funny man, Din." He muses. "I don't think you should worry about those folks. Some of 'em are already here."_

_Din leans forward. "Are you one of those crazies from the asylum?" His face is serious but they've known each other ling enough for the other man to know that he's joking._

_"And if I am?"_

_The marshal isn't joking. His hazel eyes are serious and full of a vulnerability Din isn't acclimated to seeing._

_"You're a damn good marshal. You are for your town and you always help us when we come through town. That's all that matters to me." Din's eyes don't leave his. "But were you?"_

_He strums his guitar a few stray times, avoiding the question. Staring into the orange flames of the fire he takes a steadying breath. "If anyone knew my secrets, I would be one of them."_

_"Tell me your secrets." Din whispers. The fire pops loudly as their eyes meet._

_"I ain't like the rest of these fellas. I-" He seems frusterated that the words are on the tip of his tongue. "Women just don't do it for me."_

_Din's eyes widen as the marshal squeezes his eyes shut, preparing for the backlash._

_"Me too. Well, I mean women are nice and all. But men are nice too." Din's voice is soft. "Are you alright?"_

_The marshal's eyes are filling with tears. "Are you being serious right now? I'm not alone."_

_Din kisses him, desperate to convey his sincerity. The marshal lets out a soft breath. "That was nice."_

_"It was, wasn't it? Let's do it more often."_

\---

Din spends the next few weeks poring over sources about gay relationships in the West. He finds a ton of sources, long scholarly papers, opinion pieces, books of all sorts of genres from nonfiction to erotic novels. He scours the few pictures there are of marshals and other lawmen across the states.

He finds nothing. He contemplates going to someone who would be able to track a person but decides against.

He tries to dry a connected with everyone. He still allows Winta and Omera come over on Wednesdays for pizza and a movie. He and Cara have lunch every day.

Still, he oftens finds himself thinking of the man when he has a moment thought to spare. The man's soft drawl and brilliant smile, his eyes that shine like gold flakes.

\---

That evening Din dreams of wandering hands and sensitive kisses.

_"You're the most beautiful man I've ever seen." Din admits between kisses. The marshal snorts._

_"Speak for yourself darlin'. From my point of view, you're the prettiest." He trails his fingertips down Din's chest. Din lets out a soft moan as he sucks a bruise on his collarbone, right below where his shirt collar would be when he puts his shirt back._

_"Mmm, Cobb." Din groans as Cobb's hand sneaks down between his legs. Finally, the charming marshal has a name. Cobb._

_A loud noise causes them to pull away but not in time to put their clothes back on. A man with a neat mustache and a neat suit grabs Cobb on the back of the neck like a misbehaving kitten._

_"I had the feeling you two were up to no good. Get dressed." He shoves Cobb to the floor. Cobb dresses quickly, barely able to breathe._

_Din swings at the man, who merely dodges the swing and tsks. "Ah, ah. So fiesty, no wonder the marshal fell for you." He laughs, turning to the group of men behind him. "Take him to the courthouse."_

_Cobb and Din make eye contact the entire time they're marched to the courthouse where a small group is already gathered. Din recognizes a few of their angry faces._

_"Din Djarin and Cobb Vanth, are the charges against you true?"_

_Cobb's loud scoff echoes into the evening. "What charges are we being accused of?"_

_The arms holding Din tighten in anger, he lets out a soft whimper as nails dig into his arm enough to break the skin. The noise is loud enough to catch Cobb's attention._

_"Gross indecency." The man drones._

_"I will only answer in front of an actual court." Cobb spits back, eyes alight._

_A cool object is shoved against Din's temple. He recognizes it instantly as a gun and his heart stops in his chest._

_"Tell us, or he dies." The man holding the gun to Din's head snaps._

_Cobb goes incredibly pale. "They are."_

_The crowd explodes into noise. Yelling, gasping in horror, shouts of "jail them!" echo._

_"I have a proposal, kill one and allow the other to live. Make the survivor suffer."_

_"Gideon, stop. You aren't the courts. You don't have the authority." Cobb begs, Din closes his eyes to avoud seeing the tears that fill Cobb's eyes. "I'll do anything."_

_"Unfortunately for you, this is a democracy." Gideon pats Cobb's head condescendingly. "Who here votes to kill this spineless vaquero?"_

_The raise of hands is one movement, like a wave._

_"Vaquero, you are charged with gross indecency and your punishment is death."_

_"No-"_

_With a loud crack, the world goes dark._

Din wakes up with a scream on his lips. His heart pounds as he gulps in large breaths. Bile rises in his throat and he vomits before he can stop it or reach a bucket.

From the other room, he hears Grogu begin to cry, probably startled at the noise.

He peels his shirt off and dumps it onto his dirtied bedding and heads to the nursery. Grogu is wailing his little heart out but stops when he sees Din.

Din scoops him up, rocking him to and fro. He's still shaking from the nightmare. It was more than just a dream, it happened, he just knows it.

Grogu falls back asleep and Din stands in his son's room, trying to catch his breath. Tears begin filling his eyes and he feels them fall down his cheeks, burning them like fire.

He finally looks at the clock, it's only 4 AM but he won't dare to fall back asleep so he starts the coffee and takes a shower to clean the smell of vomit off of him. He throws his blanket and clothes into the washing machine.

When it's a more acceptable time to be awake, he texts his boss, telling him that he won't be able to make it in.

He's sick to his stomach but he can't help his curiosity at the situation. He has the man's first name. Cobb, it was a little strange but maybe it was a nickname.

He pulls out his laptop, typing the names out.

He doesn't find much on the first three pages but once he reaches the fourth one, he sees an old newspaper article clipping.

_**Cobb Vanth, Marshal of Freetown, Dies.** _

_The beloved marshal died last night due to a gunshot wound to the head. Authorities blamed the shot on suicide. Last year Vanth had been charged with a case of gross indecency, a charge that resulted in the death of his long term lover, Din Djarin._

Din stares at the words until they're blurred together. "Cobb Vanth." He says aloud, the name feels sweet on his tongue, like it was meant for him. "Where are you?" He murmurs, looking over the faded photo beside the obituary. Cobb is smiling widely, he looks younger than in the dreams Din had, meaning it was probably taken during his first years of being marshal.

If only he knew the pain he would one day experience. Din's heart aches for him.

\---

The dreams end after that terrible night. There's no more soft kisses or awful singing. There's no more intertwined fingers or lustful glances.

Din tries to find peace with it all, he really does. He desperately wants life to go back to normal and finds himself cursing the day he ever met Cobb Vanth, both in the past and recently.

He's stopping to get coffee early one morning when a too-familiar twang catches his attention. Across the shop, bright and exuberant as ever, is Cobb Vanth. Phone pressed to his ear, he laughs into it. He looks around, eyes stopping as they meet Din's.

"Hey, I'll call you back."

"Din?" He says, almost hesitantly.

Cobb looks the same as he did in the dreams. Din has so much he wants to say.

_I missed you and I don't even know who you are._

_You look even better nowadays._

_I'm sorry it took us so long to meet._

_I love you._

None of those even begin to sum up the feelings that threaten to burst in his chest. It's like he's frozen in place, muscles refusing to work. He doesn't know what to say? What do people usually say in these situations? Wait, no one has ever experienced this before.

He goes through several phrases in his head before settling on one word.

"Cobb."

**Author's Note:**

> If I get around to it, I may update this with another chapter from Cobb's POV but for now this is it.
> 
> If you enjoyed please leave a comment. Did you expect me to kill off cowboy Din (I didn't lmao) 
> 
> Come chat with me on Insta or Tumblr @onceuponagalaxyfarfaraway


End file.
